Week 4 - Kehinde Wiley and inter-textuality

Week 4 - Kehinde Wiley and inter-textuality

Week 4 - Kehinde Wiley

3. Kehinde Wiley Count Potocki, 2008 oil on canvas, 274.3 x 274.3cm

4. Kehinde Wiley Support Army and Look after People, 2007 oil on canvas, 258.4 x 227.3cm

Kahinde Wiley is a Gay American based painter born in Los Angeles, who has an international reputation. Wiley lives and practices between Beijing and Brooklyn.

This weeks ALVC class focuses on the Postmodern theme "INTERTEXTUALITY", re-read Extract 1 The death of the author on page 39 of your ALVC books and respond to the oil paintings of Kehinde Wiley. 

1. Find a clear definition of Intertextuality and quote it accurately on your blog using the APA referencing system. Use your own words to explain the definition more thoroughly. 

A term most fully and originally explicated by Julia Kristeva in the school of poststructuralism, intertextuality has taken on a variety of meanings since her discussion of the term in the 1960s. On its most basic level, intertextuality is the concept of texts' borrowing of each others' words and concepts. This could mean as much as an entire ideological concepts and as little as a word or phrase. As authors borrow pro-actively from previous texts, their work gains layers of meaning. Also, another feature of intertextuality reveals itself when a text is read in light of another text, in which case all of the assumptions and implications surrounding the other text shed light on and shape the way a text is interpreted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertextuality

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intertextuality

http://www.sociology.org/content/vol001.002/fox.html

2. Research Wiley's work and write a paragraph that analyzes how we might make sense of his work. Identify intertextuality in Wiley's work.

Wiley's work is focused on renaissance with a 'hip-hop' subject matter. In his paintings Wiley uses the theme of 'Renaissance Art' which is a very elegant or rich form of art, with the use of 'black' male youth lifted straight from the street and rendering them complete with sneakers, track pants, and tank tops; using the 'hip-hop' subject as the center of his paintings Wiley shows that not only very elegant, or wealthy people, but other races can too. I think one important message in the paintings above is racial prejudice, and equal rights. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehinde_Wiley

3. Wiley's work relates to next weeks Postmodern theme "PLURALISM" . Read page 46 and discuss how the work relates to this theme.

Defintion: Pluralism 

• a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles,sources of authority, etc., coexist.

• a form of society in which the members of minority groupsmaintain their independent cultural traditions.• a political theory or system of power-sharing among a number of political parties.
Pluralism is shown in the work done by Kehinde Wiley by the 'power-sharing' of each subject/ethnicity. The combination of the Renaissance Art and the 'black' male shows that everyone is the same as has equal power and rights as one another - this also shows that you should not judge people on their race religion etc. In the paintings ideas come through about rights and equal power, it also shows how the worlds' culture is developing and changing.

4. Comment on how Wiley's work raises questions around social/cultural hierarchies, colonisation, globalisation, stereotypes and the politics which govern a western worldview. 

The paintings raise ideas of racial prejudice and equal rights - this is changing on a daily basis in the worlds society. The idea of stereotyping the two ethnicities also arises in the paintings, Wiley perceives the 'white' people to be of a very high standard and the 'black' men to be the less elegant, and wealthy which shows his and the worlds view on how people today perceive each ethnicity. 

5. Add some reflective comments of your own, which may add more information that

you have read during your research.

I now have a more clearer understanding of the artist, Kehinde Wiley, and also the ideas of racism etc. He is a very diverse artist, which shows throughout his work.